They used to think mothers milk was sterile but it is far from that. The average baby consuming 27 ounces of human milk will received between 100,000 and 10,000,000 million bacteria from human milk per day. Mothers with higher BMIs (in the obese range) produce colostrum with more Lactobacillus, and mature milk with more Staphylococcus and less Bifidobacterium. Scientist also found that greater pregnancy weight gain predicted more Staphylococcus in the milk in a small study of 18 mothers, half obese and half of normal weight. But here is the really neat part – guess what else altered the milk microbiota? Type of delivery. Mothers who had caesarian sections had a different milk microbiota than mothers who had a vaginal delivery. And the variation continued – mothers undergoing emergency caesarians after laboring had milk microbiotas closer to those of women who delivered vaginally than women with elective caesarians. Where do the bacteria come from? Initially, it was thought that the milk microbiome was really just contamination from the skin microbiome. However, this is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Instead, it appears that the microbiome of milk comes from several places, including the maternal gut microflora. Some of these strains could be used to treat mastitis in the mothers depending on what strains and how many they have of them. So the milk microbiome appears to be protecting mothers – but there is also good evidence that it is protecting infants. The milk microbiome also appears to contribute to the microbiome of the infant GI tract, as well as the development of immune function in the infant. It showed significant reductions in diarrheal and respiratory infections in early infancy compared to control infants. Many of the bacteria in the milk microbiome are protecting both the mother and the infant from infection, and may even be involved in the development of immune tolerance. Milk remains amazing – even the bacteria in milk!
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000
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